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Issued three times a year and sold by subscription Editorial: [email protected] 23 Mornington Grove, Bow, London E3 4NS Subscriptions and Mailing: [email protected] 4 Lulworth Close, Halesowen, B63 2UJ 01384 566383 VOLUME TEN, NUMBER THREE, NOVEMBER 2006 Editor: Ken Ward Managing Editor: Raymond Cox. Associate Editors: Peter Palmer, Crawford Howie, Nicholas Attfield In this issue: Biennial Conference .. page 2 Concert Reviews…pages 3-13 CD reviews … page 14 Thematic and Tonal Unity in Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony by Paul Dawson-Bowling… page 19 Bruckner in the Academy by Raymond Rice…page 26 Bruckner Scores: Secular Vocal Music…page 31 Letters from Ian Beresford Gleaves, Aart van der Wal and Ian Gray…page 36 A performance of a revised completion of the Ninth by William Carragan…page 40 Thanks to Holger Grintz for sending a colour print of this caricature by Copyright in all pieces remains with Matthias Richter, and to the artist for permission to publish this small the author. Silhouette by Otto Böhler. greyscale copy. It shows Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs indicating the Profile and bow-tie on pages 17 & 35 existing sources for the Ninth that should be respected; and Peter Jan by Michael Felmingham Views Marthé indicating Bruckner as an angel above the clouds as the source expressed by contributors to The for his newly composed finale for the Ninth. You can obtain a copy of Bruckner Journal are not necessarily this print in A3 format from John Berky at www.abruckner.com, 21 Juniper Road, Windsor, CT 06095 - USA for $24.95 those of the editors. 2 FIFTH BRUCKNER JOURNAL READERS BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 2007 ‘Mystery in the Music of Anton Bruckner’ The conference will be held in Birmingham on Saturday 21 April, 9.30 for 10 am - 5pm With an informal meeting on the Friday evening at 7 pm The venue is Carrs Lane Centre, Carrs Lane, Birmingham 0121 643 6151 Speakers will include Nicholas Attfield, William Carragan, Dermot Gault, Paul Hawkshaw, Julian Horton, Crawford Howie, Ben Korstvedt and Ken Ward. The venue is very conveniently situated in the city centre. It is directly opposite Moor Street Station (Chiltern Railways from London Marylebone) and a short walk from New Street Station (Virgin Trains from London Euston, and places from the north, south and east of England). The Digbeth Coach Station is a few minutes walk away, and there is a car park near the venue, across the road, but not at the venue itself. The Conference fee is £25. If you would like to attend please complete and return the booking form as soon as you can conveniently do so, and at the latest by the end of January, as it is necessary to know the number likely to attend. Readers who book for the Conference will find a map enclosed with the March issue of The Bruckner Journal. A buffet lunch is available on Saturday consisting of a selection of sandwiches with salad garnish, savouries, mini or fresh creams or Danish pastries, or orange juice and mineral water. Buffets have to be ordered on the booking form. For those who do not wish to have the buffet lunch there is a 700 seat restaurant facility, The Loft, a three or four minutes walk away on the top floor of The Pavilions shopping centre. Here there are various choices of different food outlets. This facility closes at 5.30pm, but other restaurants are available in the area, and the Britannia hotel restaurant is open from 7 pm. On Friday evening the room is available from 6 pm, so feel free to arrive any time after then. The session will start at 7 pm. For those seeking accommodation the two nearest recommended hotels are also within a few minutes walk from the venue, in New Street. Britannia Hotel 044(0)121 6313331. www.britanniahotels.com. (First choice); Burlington Hotel 044(0)121 6331716. www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk. It is highly recommended that you book your accommodation as soon as possible, as there might be demand for these hotels that particular weekend, depending on other events taking place in the region. Further hotels in or near to the city can be accessed via www.birmingham.co.uk . Telephone numbers 044(0)121 7046130 (Visitor Information Centre) and 044(0)121 6432514 (Birmingham Convention and Visitor Bureau) may also be helpful. Those not requiring accommodation should find it possible to arrive by train in Birmingham from many places in the country in time for the start of the Conference. We hope you will be able to join us for an interesting and stimulating event, which also offers readers the opportunity to meet with one another. If you need further information please contact Raymond Cox, or Crawford Howie in respect of speakers and the format of the day. Anyone unable to book until nearer the day should inquire first to Raymond Cox to ensure there is still space available. Raymond Cox, 4 Lulworth Close, Halesowen, B63 2UJ - 044(0)1384 566383 Concert Reviews VIENNA - Musikverein, Groβe Saal - 5 May, 2006 Bruckner - Symphony No.7 Vienna Symphony Orchestra - Herbert Blomstedt For me, Bruckner is one of those composers whose music “plays itself.” The fashion for performing it so slowly that one is painfully aware of every bar line, that phrases become static and never “arrive”, makes for uninspiring listening and is unmusical. I feel that the preoccupation with Bruckner and the church, with his idiosyncrasies, with this version or that, outweighs the fact that the music was written to be performed and listened to. It takes a conductor who can balance the emotional with the technical, and who “loves” the MUSIC, to present an uplifting performance. Herbert Blomstedt, conducting without a score, did just that with the musicians of the VSO. Yes….the first movement was slow, but it moved - elegant, stately by turn - through beautifully shaped phrases up to and away from their climaxes. The occasional slight increases in speed which the conductor allowed came naturally, almost imperceptibly. Pauses were mere breaths. The movement evolved into a musically coherent whole. It was hard to realise that the second movement was being played more slowly that the first, for it never stalled, dragged, or lost its way. Blomstedt built it and moulded it into a fine sculpture, yet it was alive with glorious crescendi and unbelievable diminuendi. As the three-note rising scale motif in the brass climbed, dropped back to rise ever higher through all those distant keys building up to the final big climax, he instilled an air of expectancy, then unleashed the descending triplets in the strings in exultation. It was awe-inspiring. In the third movement we met Bruckner the Rustic - a side of his character which I feel is all too often ignored. Here we had a lively tempo, the music moving with an Austrian lilt - and Blomstedt with it. I like to see a conductor unashamed to move with the music, as well as being in permanent eye-contact with his players. The Finale left nothing else to be said! It was played with dash and panache. The orchestral forces were well under control for there was always that little bit extra available when Blomstedt called for it. I have heard the VSO play Bruckner a number of times; I believe they are indeed a Bruckner Orchestra, for they have a natural rich, full, round timbre. There was glorious warm playing from every department, particularly from the violas and cellos. It was an uncontrived, sincere performance, lovingly played, with conductor and orchestra as one. I shall remember it for being as close to perfect as it is possible to be. I still believe that these great symphonies are not at their best in the concert hall. Bruckner did not write for the orchestra as though it were a great organ, but I am sure that as he composed, he heard the orchestral sound full of overtones in the brass reverberating round some vast cathedral or Kloster. Florence Bishop EDINBURGH - INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2006. USHER HALL. Lloyds TSB Scotland Concerts – 15th August to 1st September 2006 Bruckner Symphonies 1 - 9 Various Orchestras and Conductors. In his final year as Director of the Edinburgh Festival Sir Brian McMaster programmed all the Bruckner symphonies over a three week period featuring six orchestras and 9 conductors. Only an International Festival could schedule all the symphonies in such a concentrated period of time and this 4 rare event had Bruckner lovers in an excited state. We give much thanks to Sir Brian McMaster for serving the Bruckner cause so well during his 15 years tenure. The excellent programme book was written by Michael Steinberg, and in a short quotation from the poet Denise Levertov, he found the words to express Bruckner’s essence. Angels with heavy wings Weathering the storm wracked air, Listing heavenward. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo gave a blazing performance of the rarely heard 1st symphony. All sections of the orchestra were technically secure and I can’t imagine the work being performed better. Why is this symphony so neglected? The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov gave us the 2nd symphony. Again we heard some excellent orchestral playing and Volkov handled this largely neglected symphony, with so many pre-echoes of Bruckner’s later style, confidently. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Günther Herbig gave us the 3rd symphony and I felt this was one of the highlights of the cycle. It was excellently played and conducted by Herbig, without a score, which always gives me added confidence. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra returned to play the 4th symphony under their principal conductor Stéphane Denève in a rarely heard version (Bruckner-Schalk-Lowe revision 1886-7[This is the edition first performed in 1888, discussed by Benjamin Korstvedt in The Bruckner Journal, Vol.10, no.2, March 2006]).